Yesterday at Albert Park

First free practice session: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:24.220; 2. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:24.803; 3. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:24.886; 4. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:25.246; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:25.372; 6. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:25.464; 7. Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:26.142; 8. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 1:26.168; 9. Nico Huelkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:26.183; 10. Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:26.276; 11. Carlos Sainz Jr (Esp) Toro Rosso 1:26.450; 12. Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso 1:26.514; 13. Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:26.734; 14. Fernando Alonso (Esp) McLaren 1:27.116; 15. Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 1:27.348; 16. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:27.656; 17. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:27.667; 18. Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber 1:28.539; 19. Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:28.585; 20. Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:28.695. Second free practice session: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:23.620; 2. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1:24.167; 3. Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:24.176; 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:24.525; 5. Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:24.650; 6. Max Verstappen (Ned) Red Bull 1:25.013; 7. Carlos Sainz Jr (Esp) Toro Rosso 1:25.084; 8. Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 1:25.436; 9. Nico Huelkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:25.478; 10. Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso 1:25.493; 11. Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:25.591; 12. Fernando Alonso (Esp) McLaren 1:26.000; 13. Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:26.145; 14. Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:26.331; 15. Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 1:26.498; 16. Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:26.525; 17. Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:26.608; 18. Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber 1:26.919; 19. Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:27.279; 20. Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:27.549. that he felt no pressure stepping up from his former team Williams.

He may feel the heat now, after being well shaded by his teammate.

The 2007 championship winner, Kimi Raikkonen, was fourth-fastest for Ferrari in the second session, improving on his fifth placing earlier.

Red Bull drivers Dan Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were third- and fourth-quickest in the first session, but dropped down the timesheets to fifth and sixth later after changes to their cars between the sessions.

Dutch teenager Verstappen skidded into the grass in the second session and team principal Christian Horner said neither he nor Ricciardo had appreciated the tweaks in the garage.

“Max did a little grassmowing, (but) yes, we’re generally quite encouraged,” he told reporters.

The first session was largely incident-free but there were plenty of problems later, with Renault driver Jolyon Palmer having a particularly tough day.

With his first session cut short by a seal problem, the second was also over quickly when Palmer skidded at turn 16. He slammed into a barrier, scattering debris on the track and the red flag was raised until his wrecked car was hauled off.

Felipe Massa’s Williams car stopped half an hour into the second session.

Twice-champion Fernando Alonso was 12th-fastest in the second session and may have been buoyed by the result after arriving in Melbourne anxious after a dreary winter testing for the Woking-based team.

With fatter tyres and improved aerodynamics, the speed of the new cars was impressive. Hamilton’s fastest lap was just shy of Vettel’s pole record of 1:23.529 set at Albert Park in 2011. – Reuters MELBOURNE: Mexican Formula One driver Sergio Perez has been on a crash diet ahead of tomorrow’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix after Force India asked him to shed some kilos to compensate for an overweight car.

“I tried so hard to lose weight in the last couple of weeks since Barcelona (testing),” the 27-year-old said. “I increased my weight from last year purely by training harder, putting on muscle, but I was on an extreme diet all last week and still now...I am all the time very hungry.”

Formula One drivers have worked on building upper body strength over the winter to adapt to new regulations that will subject them to greater G forces in cornering as cars lap significantly faster.

The cars have a minimum weight limit, minus fuel but with driver included, which has been increased this season. The aim is to carry as little extra as possible for maximum advantage.

Perez’s French team mate Esteban Ocon said he had put on five kilos of muscle over the winter, and other drivers reported similar gains.

Perez said he had lost two or three kilos since testing ended but expected to be able to put the muscle back once the team was happier with reliability and could take weight out of the car. – Reuters